Measles alert, cases are growing and Lazio is the region with the most infections: the appeal to get vaccinated

Measles virus infections are clearly increasing in Italy, as can be seen from the graph released byHigher Institute of Health. And Lazio is the Italian region where the most cases were recorded in 2024.

From the beginning of the year to April 30, 399 cases of measles have been reported, of which 348 confirmed, 16 probable and 35 possible cases. Thirty of the reported cases are imported. The infections were reported in sixteen regions, but four, namely Lazio, Sicily, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, had a total of 68.7 percent of the cases, i.e. 274 out of 399. The highest number of cases was found precisely in Lazio: 112 in total, of which 36 in March and 45 in April. The highest incidence was observed in the Abruzzo region, 59.1 cases per million, followed by Lazio, 58.9 cases per million.

According to data from the Istituto Superiore della Sanità, 91 percent of measles patients were unvaccinated at the time of infection. 6.1 percent were vaccinated with a single dose and 3.8 percent were vaccinated with two doses. 31.8 percent of patients reported at least one complication, of which the most frequent were hepatitis/increased transaminases and pneumonia.

Seresmi, the Regional Service for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Control of infectious diseases of the Lazio Region, reports that in Lazio the median age of infected patients is 33 years, with the most affected age group being 15-39 years. “Vaccines reduce deaths and hospital admissions in two ways: they directly protect the vaccinated, preventing them from getting sick, and they offer indirect protection to the unvaccinated. Measles spreads very easily, so high vaccination coverage, equal to or greater than 95 percent percent of the population vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine, is essential to interrupt transmission in a country or community”, say the Seresmi experts.